Singularity
by althechi
Summary: Oriana decides to train her biotics. Kaidan's an instructor there. Hijinks (and angst) ensue.
1. Chapter 1

It was about half a week after Horizon.

Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko had failed. That much was clear. All but a tiny handful of colonists had been abducted by the Collectors. The only intel of any worth that had been gained from the entire debacle was that Commander Shepard was indeed alive...and working with Cerberus. The colonists would be repatriated elsewhere.

But what to do with the errant Marine? He'd been a changed man after Horizon. He hadn't said anything afterwards and had taken the debrief from Vice Admiral Hokulani well enough, but it'd been eating him up inside. The initial plan was for him to be pushed to the next possible target, Fehl Prime.

A psychological report in the resounding negative had altered plans, though. He'd been blaming the L2 implants for his stress, but Dr. Kong believed that what he needed would be a total change of environment for a while.

Eventually, the decision came down to the man who had given him the assignment in the first place.

Councillor David Anderson's QEC image finally said, _"Tag him to Phase 2 of Ascension. Let him soak in some of that Terra Nova air for a while. Then get him back on the mission."_

Those three sentences morphed into the conclusion of a page-long report and it multiplied every step of the journey down the chain of command, finally concluding in Staff Commander Alenko being ordered to pack his things and take the next transport out from Horizon.

* * *

Kaidan didn't like the ship he was on, the SSV _Midway_. It reminded him too much of the SR-1, being the third _Normandy_-class vessel built. He lay back on his his temporary bunk, drafting a note. It was silly. He shouldn't have bothered. He'd said everything he needed to about Shepard and Cerberus back on Horizon. So why was he writing this? Why the need to explain himself?

It was Shepard's fault. The Commander Shepard he knew, who'd tracked down Admiral Kahoku's killers, who had shot Dr. Wayne between the eyes for everything he'd ever done to Corporal Toombs...it just didn't connect. Jumping right into Cerberus's open arms? It just couldn't be.

But there she'd been...and even somehow dragged Garrus along with her. Maybe they _were_ right about the Collectors being the threat. Kaidan didn't know. It wasn't his decision to make. Admiral Hackett could order a hit on everything four-eyed and chitinous tomorrow, and he'd go along with it.

Kaidan shook his head. There still was something wrong with the whole picture. Just seeing Shepard, working on her own...then, in one terrible moment, he realised just what was wrong.

_Shepard would never have been working for (with?) Cerberus if I'd been there for her. All of this could've been avoided, and we'd be battling the Reapers or Collectors or geth or whatever if I'd just been there for her two years ago. When they came for us, I should've...I could've..._

The thought trailed off in his head. He tried his best to put it aside, and pain throbbed in his temples. Damn implants. No. It wasn't all Shepard's fault. That, at least, was worth acknowledging. She'd left her extranet-mail address for him, trusting him to keep it to himself. That much he'd done.

After a few more seconds of vacillation, he sent it. He'd left it open, but figured the Commander had better things to do than follow up on his worrying. Terra Nova and the alleged other branch of Ascension were waiting. Time to move on from Shepard. Again.

* * *

Oriana Davis blinked as she looked in the mirror. Two neat scars on her forehead were all the trace of the relatively unintrusive surgery she'd just undergone. She would be immobile for at least a few more days as nanomachines constructed electronic relays along her nervous system, fully installing the Armali Council biotic amp.

It had been a long discussion to get to this point, but she eventually had convinced her foster parents that it was the right move. Henry (she could never consider that man _father_) was willing to go to the extent of hiring an entire merc detachment to get her back, and the galaxy was seeming like a more and more dangerous place, what with the Collectors rampaging in the Terminus Systems, hunting down humans wherever they could find them. She had to be able to defend herself.

The process was less drastic than a full set of biotic implants, thanks to the genes programmed into her that had led her to become such an 'asset' and her sister to steal her away from Henry when she was little more than a baby, and again when he was back on her trail. Never again. She might never become the hardened warrior her sister had eventually turned into, but she couldn't let her talents go to waste.

After much talking and weighing of options, it'd been decided that she'd go to Terra Nova to learn how to use her biotics, as part of the Alliance's attempt to 'reach out' to the biotics in the colonies. She smiled, thinking that this was just the sort of thing that would drive her sister mad.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaidan took up his lodgings at a small bunk. The facility on Terra Nova had been rented out from a community centre; the whole purpose of Ascension, Phase 2 was to "reach out" to the civilians of the Terminus Systems and teach them how to use their biotic abilities, and once they'd gotten drunk on biotic power, shove an Alliance contract under their noses.

The Alliance brass, of course, were deeply concerned that they might be breeding the next generation of biotic mercenaries, so tight background checks on the intake were put into force. Out of nearly a thousand entries, the class size was trimmed to twenty-four. They'd be split into four 'teams' of six, each with their own dedicated instructor. Kaidan was placed in charge of Team 3.

His colleagues consisted of 2nd Lt. Iris Kalani, an adept fresh out from the Academy, LT Jurou Hotaru recently of the Fifth Fleet and apparently a volunteer, and finally Lieutenant Commander Francis Wieland, who'd done two tours of duty and was a fairly powerful vanguard.

Of the three of them, Kaidan recognised Jurou and Francis from BaAT. Hotaru had always been a bit of an hothead; enthusiastic, but didn't know his own limits. Meeting him in the canteen, he didn't seem to have mellowed any; turns out, he, like Kaidan, had been dumped in this sideshow as a 'punishment' of sorts. Wieland had kept to himself most of the time, but was a solid friend once you got past his stony exterior.

Iris was nearly half a decade younger than Kaidan, and was an eager little thing. He reckoned she'd go far...if she got an occasional reality check. Turns out she had a boyfriend back on Earth. It figured. Someone like her wouldn't have too much difficulty getting attached. She practically bubbled energy.

He had tuned out after a while hearing her talk about how she'd spent her downtime with her boyfriend on the Citadel. The closest that he'd ever had to that with Shepard had been the week right after taking down Saren and Sovereign. Just the two of them, on the shores of Demeter, joined in the same passion they had shared just before Ilos. By that same time a fortnight later, Kaidan had watched her die in space from his escape pod.

Some comment or other by Jurou had sprung him back to reality, as they split the workload between themselves. He'd be taking the practical lessons on basic manipulation of loads along with a bunch of theory ones. Sounded all right.

As he finished the meal, listening to the others chat, he returned to his own thoughts. He thought he'd left it behind. If she wanted to talk again, she'd call. But why, then, did he still _remember_?

* * *

Having little else to do - she'd exhausted the few games she'd installed on her omnitool - Oriana checked the itinerary she'd downloaded from the extranet. The course wouldn't be very long; just about three weeks, barely a sampler of the potential in her nervous system. Hopefully it'd be enough to let her defend herself, should Henry or the Collectors come knocking.

The 'attire' for the biotic training was a T-shirt and track pants. It reminded her a little of dance practice: endless hours of repeating the same moves, all for an one-off performance...but almost always worth it. Looks like the more things changed, the less they did. The Alliance would be providing accommodation at a nearby hotel, and they'd have to report every morning at 8 in the morning.

She took a cursory look into her suitcase, checking against the rest of the packing list. She'd of course brought some other clothes, for when they were released at the end of the day, the usual toiletries, so on and so forth. Checking the briefing again, she noted she was sorted into Team 3, headed by a certain Lieutenant Commander Alenko. The name sounded familiar. The rest of her group were just names at this point.

Oriana sat back in her chair, wondering about the new people she'd meet and new faces she'd see on Terra Nova.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaidan stopped and reviewed what he was going to say as he moved his hand to the door panel. He had scribbled out a handful of notes on the fundamentals of biotics based on hazily-remembered lesson plans in his own time, added with some practical experience once he'd actually gone to ground.

He ran his introduction through his head one more time, and checked his timepiece. 0758 hours. Their toilet break after their orientation should've ended already. Inprocessing said that four candidates had failed to come at all. Their loss, he guessed. The teams had remained more or less the same.

With that thought, he tapped the door console, and it slid apart. He headed to the table at the front and sized up the class. There were 18 seated, most of them youths. The eldest he figured would be 21 or 22. Upon his entry, most of them had looked up, although a few at the back were still talking. The errant few returned from the restroom, and joined the rest.

After a bit more waiting, a polite cough called their attention.

"Good morning, everybody. I'm Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko, but for the purposes of this class, 'Mr. Alenko' will do. For those in Team 3, I'll be taking you for your practical classes. Can I just see who's in Team 3? Thank you."

-

Oriana raised her hand, and took a look around the room to see who'd joined her. There were four others, all about her own age. Two of them were sitting side-by-side. Probably a couple. The other two were guys.

-

"Thank you." Kaidan gave a wave, and the hands dropped. "Now, then, before I start on this here 52-slide lecture on the basics of biotics, eezo, the mass effect, so on and so forth," - here there were audible groans through the entire class - "does anyone have any questions for me?"

Half a minute passed, with many tuning out, and others starting to chat with each other. Then, one adventurous youth raised his hand.

"Uh, Mr. Alenko? Are you _the_ Kaidan Alenko?"

Kaidan responded with a smile, "Well, I don't know any others, so I guess I am."

A wave of laughter briefly spread through the room, as the youth qualified himself. "As in the Kaidan Alenko, who helped Commander Shepard kill Sovereign and everything?"

"Well, yes."

"What was it like?"

Kaidan gazed to the distance. "It all happened pretty fast, to be honest. All I remember of it now was the fact that we were on our own, and it was almost like it was the galaxy against us. The Council barely gave us any aid, far as I remember. Things got pretty thick on Virmire, but the Commander came through for me. She always did. I really don't want to think just what a close shave we had, but we managed to stop Saren and Sovereign. And that's what mattered in the end."

If the class hadn't been paying attention before, his brief story was the thing that had finally garnered it. For the first time, he saw _interest_ in their eyes.

"Well, that's enough rambling from me. Get your recording materials out, because I'm about to begin."

-

Kaidan Alenko. _The_ Kaidan Alenko, who had run with Shepard back in the day. Did he even know that she'd died and come back to life? On reflection, he'd probably be the first person she'd tell. Oriana figured that they both owed their lives to Shepard, in a way.

She felt herself drifting off as he passed the twentieth slide or so about mass effect theory. Hero of the Citadel he might have been, the man could not deliver a lecture. Still, she couldn't wait for practical lessons...

* * *

Practical lessons were always conducted about an hour after lunch break. The canteen served extra-large portions, given the intensiveness of biotic exercises. Even then, Oriana couldn't bring herself to finish more than three-quarters of the massive salmon sandwich on her plate. She would like to think that her dancer's figure was a well-deserved one.

The twenty-two of them had sat around the canteen roughly in their teams. She was eating with two other members of Team 3, the couple together in another corner of the canteen. Apparently they were Francine Fisher and Neil Fleming, and had left Freedom's Progress just before it'd gotten hit. The two she was sitting with were called Kareem Lewis and Blake Delacruz, both spacer kids.

Lewis had quite a few things to say about the Alliance, blaming them for the recent abductions and even the fact that this very colony was nearly destroyed by marauding batarians - foiled, of course, by Shepard. Delacruz was rather apathetic to the whole thing, figuring that as long as there were ports of call, he didn't really care.

After about an hour of sightseeing around Terra Nova's (rather few) landmarks, including a library, one shopping mall, and several religious facilities, it was time to return to the community center for actual biotic practice. The teams had been split up to one room each, and Oriana and the other five found them with Lt. Commander Alenko.

He got off from the table he was sitting on and produced a sphere, about twenty centimetres in diameter, which he placed on a pedestal.

"Afternoon, everybody. If you've managed to forget who I was from this morning's lecture, I'm Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko. Can I just get a quick roll-call?"

He read off their names one by one, and each responded in turn. He seemed to pause over Oriana's name, as if confused over a point. She tried to pretend she didn't notice it.

"Right, then. All right, let's begin. This right here is a standard Alliance training probe. It has several instruments in it, like a gyroscope and an accelerometer, so we can record how far and how fast the biotic in question can move it. Let me just demonstrate."

He placed the ball back on the pedestal and pressed a stud on it, then walked back towards the group. Kaidan focused for a moment, visualizing the ball through closed eyes. His body glowed blue and with an outstretched hand, he levitated the probe half a metre off the pedestal, before gently letting it down.

The six of them gave a round of polite applause, and Kaidan smiled. At least he still had the basics. He discreetly checked the readings on his omni-tool.

Turning to them, "All right. Now, I won't be asking you to be able to do that right away. Your task today will simply be to push that orb off the pedestal. Can I get my first volunteer?"

They all looked at each other, nobody willing to be the first. Kaidan crossed his arms, smirking. He'd seen this sort of behavior from way back in boot camp...from himself and his fellow cadets. Eventually, he picked up the name list.

"All right then, we'll go alphabetically. Will Miss 'Davis, Oriana, kindly come to front?"

Oriana blinked, staring blankly. A deer in headlights would've been less stunned. She found herself prodded forward, and found herself standing in front of everyone else, with just that ball standing on the pedestal there. She turned her head nervously to Kaidan, who responded with a warm smile and a nod.

With a gulp, she glared at the orb and stuck her hands forward, focusing every bit of biotic energy she had - or thought she had - in her, thinking as hard as she could to just push it off the pedestal.

Nothing happened.

A few more seconds of awkward silence, Kaidan stepped up to Oriana.

"All right, everyone give a round of applause to Ms. Oriana."

A very polite, very soft clapping ensued.

Kaidan continued, "Now, this is perfectly normal for first-timers. If you'd paid attention to my lecture this morning - and here I'm going to assume the opposite's true - the first hurdle in moving things with your mind is being able to generate the correct sort of electric pulse in your nervous system to interact with the element zero to even form a slight biotic field. Now, biotic amps can help, but more often than not, it just encourages inefficient biotics brute-forcing the field. Once you figure out how to generate the correct pulse, you generally tend to remember it. Kind of like riding a bike. Now, who's next?"

Oriana retreated to the back of the classroom, cheeks flush with shame and maybe just a little bit of anger at her instructor, as the next few attempted to move the probe. She knew she could do it. She'd be the first to get it done, if just to make up for her failed first foray.


	4. Chapter 4

It was nearing the end of the first week. Kaidan reviewed the recordings again. Three of his group - Lewis, Delacruz and the Fisher girl - had managed to get a decent heft on the probe. Mr. Fleming was getting rather annoyed by the fact that he wasn't getting anywhere fast, especially in front of his girlfriend. Kaidan had told him not to be too worried and to cool off a bit.

That left the Davis girl. She was making slow progress, but _damn_ if she didn't try her hardest. After getting herself to light up blue, she just kept going, and sure enough, the probe had shifted half an inch after that. It didn't go any further than there that day, but she was so radiant, so eager for more...

...Kaidan blinked, and looked back down at the screen again. He was about to think about _her_; her tenaciousness, and absolutely indefatigable spirit. Even when everything had seemed at their darkest after Virmire, she'd pressed on ahead. It was only after Saren was slain and Sovereign with him that the enormity of it all had sunk in for the two of them.

* * *

_"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,_

_In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed._

_For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality._

_So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory._

_O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"_

_The empty coffin was lowered inch by inch into the field outside the stately old chapel. The clouds high above the two of them rumbled with discontent, but adamantly refused to loose their rain on the earth below._

Shepard had been so stoic, so strong, till that point. But as heap after heap of freshly-hewn soil was poured into the grave, it must have finally gotten to her. It was her choice. Her decision. Her call to turn the around and save Kaidan instead of her. There hadn't even been a body to bury.

Her eyes sparkling with unformed tears, Shepard leaned upon him for support. He silently took her by the arm, gazing ahead at the tombstone bearing Ashley's name.

* * *

Kaidan snapped back to reality abruptly. No, they weren't the same. Of course not. One was a hardened soldier and his ex-commander. The other was just a girl from Illium who wanted to learn how to move things with her mind. That was it. End of story.

Then, the chime sounded. Kaidan shouted, "Come in!"

There, framed by the doorway, was Ms. Oriana Davis, having changed out from her practice wear. Kaidan didn't know it, of course, but she'd been training by herself day by day through the week, usually on an hastily constructed setup in her hotel room. It'd definitely sapped her a bit; now she had to eat a few buns along with the full sandwiches the canteen provided.

But all of it had been to prove herself. To _who_ she wasn't quite sure. Herself? Mr. Alenko? Her sister? Her genetics, which had been tailored to let her hurl enemies around just by thinking about it? She didn't know. But all she knew was that she _had_ to do it./i

Peeking in a little apprehensively, she asked, "Mr. Alenko?"

Kaidan leaned back, replying, "Yes, Oriana?"

As she found the words to phrase her request, Kaidan briefly studied her face. It reminded him of another's, someone he'd seen before. Not for a long time, though, or he'd recognise it. Someone that he'd seen and maybe talked with for a while, but that had been about it. He was trying to figure out who when she finally spoke again.

"I'd...like to practice with the probe."

Kaidan swung the chair around and put his elbows on his knees. "Listen here, Ms. Davis. We schedule the practices so that the participants don't burn themselves out. Biotics who don't know their own limits are at the most risk."

Rejection was one thing Oriana had difficulty putting up with. "That's why I'm asking you to supervise me."

Kaidan thought for a moment.

"Just once?" Oriana pressed, leaning towards him.

Rolling his eyes, Kaidan got up, and retrieved the sphere. "Well, looks like I won't be able to dissuade you. But if we don't get anywhere on the first try, I want you to stop. Understood?"

She nodded silently and followed him as they headed down the corridor. Kaidan opened the door and placed the orb on the pedestal, just like the first day. Oriana took a deep breath and stepped towards it, trying to clear her mind.

"All right, show me what you've got."

Squeezing her eyes closed, Oriana focused. A blue glow started to form around her, and the probe started to shake violently. Kaidan put a hand on her shoulder, and leaned in close to her ear.

"Good, good. Now focus on the forward motion. Think not just of moving it, but give it _direction_."

The probe shook even more at this prompting. Kaidan stared forward at it.

"You've almost got it. Now _release_ the buildup and-"

Then, after a few moments, a massive biotic pulse flung the probe so hard it crashed against the opposite wall with a loud thud. Oriana snapped back to reality upon hearing it, looking astonished, then horrified, then a mix of the two as she stared at the fallen orb.

Kaidan walked over to the orb, picking it up as he walked back to Oriana, who was still stuck in dumbfounded silence.

"It should be fine; it was meant to stand up to a lot more punishment than that. Good job, Ori-"

He was interrupted by Oriana gleefully rushing him and planting a kiss on his cheek. Kaidan was taken aback, to say the least, and the probe landed on the floor again. Oriana released her grip on him, eyes awkwardly darting between the fallen sphere and him.

Retrieving the probe again, Kaidan patted Oriana on the shoulder, glancing to the door.

"Good job. See you next Monday."

With that, he was gone, leaving her alone in the practice room with her own thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

As the weeks passed from that awkward triumph, the gulf between the two seemed to narrow. Nothing was expressed in class, of course. Kaidan was too professional for that. If anything, he seemed to be even more harsh with her than with the other students, getting her to finetune her biotics and making sure she wasn't brute-forcing them.

Among the six of them, she was easily making the most progress. The rest had plateaued at about 650 Newtons, while she'd break 700 any time now. As for the other skills, such as using the fine control to lift an object, she'd been the first to get the hang of it. While the rest were capable of it, only Oriana was able to get it stable, then to everyone's surprise, hurl it down so hard it cracked the pedestal it had been hanging over.

She was good, no doubt of it. But there was no way she'd ever accept the Alliance contract that would be shoved in front of her a week from now. She had too many of her own ideas and too many of her own plans for that. And for some reason, they seemed to involve him.

He was getting dressed for a dinner that she'd proposed, in one of the fancier restaurants on Terra Nova. They'd meet there. He looked down at his cuffs as he buttoned them, wondering how it'd come to this.

Oriana had visited him after classes again, this time with a considerably different tone. She wouldn't leave until he'd agreed, and to humour her, he'd agreed to it. It was just a dinner...wasn't it?

* * *

Shepard sat in her cabin, poring over the final upgrades she'd made to the ship, ready for the one-way trip through the Omega 4 relay. Her entire crew had preceded her and the squad she'd assembled through it, when she was busy dealing with the geth heretics. And to think it was all Miranda's idea, loading the whole lot of them into the shuttle at once...

She stopped herself. She'd gone down this guilt-ridden path far too many times. Right now, the most she could do for her missing crew was to storm the gates of Hell and bust them out - right before blowing the whole place to oblivion, naturally. And the only way to make sure that they could do it was to be absolutely prepared for everything they'd seen the Collectors dish out - and then some.

A chill ran up her spine. She tried to shake it off. It was the apprehension one had before a severe trial. Rationally listing off everything she'd done to prepare for it didn't help, but that was what she was doing as she sat in her cabin, counting the minutes until they hit the relay. The room suddenly seemed very small in an enormous galaxy.

Every sound in the room - the soft _gurgle_ of the cistern, the _hummm_ of her private terminal, even the soft squeaking of the hamster she'd bought on a whim on the Citadel - seemed amplified a hundredfold. Then, the door slid open with a shudder, revealing the assassin she'd hired barely two weeks ago, just after Horizon.

They'd taken to talking now and then, especially after she'd helped him reconnect with his son. He had nicknamed her "siha", explaining that it stood for one of the hosts of angels of the drell goddess of protection. Among the human crew, she was the only one he had confided in to such an extent.

And now he was pacing around her cabin, pouring his soul out. He was apprehensive about the ordeal they would soon face - and ashamed for it. She drew herself up to him, and interrupted his fears with an embrace. They would face the galaxy together, and nothing would get in their way.

* * *

In the meantime, Kaidan was regaling Oriana with the story of Shepard and Sovereign. Two glasses of wine stood between them. Kaidan's was barely touched, while Oriana's was half-full.

"...and let me just say, _driving_ isn't one of Shepard's numerous qualities. She seemed to have the idea that you could climb any slope less than ninety degrees up with the Mako. We learned to bring barf bags after the first planetside mission."

Oriana laughed - it was something a little past a giggle. Her cheeks were slightly flush.

"So, riding aside, what was it like fighting alongside Shepard?"

Kaidan paused for a while, lips lingering on the edge of the glass. As he took a long sip, Oriana looked at him, biting his lip. Had she been too eager? What was she doing, reminding him of a woman he had to have held in such high regard?

Finally, he spoke. "She...was the strongest-spirited woman I'd ever known. She never let anything get her down. But maybe that was her biggest strength _and_ her worst weakness all in one. A shell, that's what it was. She'd wrapped herself in it ever since Mindoir...but I'm rambling."

Kaidan took another bite of his meal, glancing down at his food. Where had _that_ come from? Did he resent Shepard so much for what she'd said on Horizon that he was willing to spill her beans to some random stranger? Then, to his surprise, Oriana spoke up, breaking the awkward silence.

"I...well, I kinda understand. I kind of know someone like that."

His gaze met hers. "You do?"

"Yeah. My sister. She thinks she's some big shot where she works and that gives her power to lord over everyone she sees...but I'm betting she feels pretty alone sometimes. She's managed to push away everyone that could've cared for her...I feel pretty sad for her."

"Hmm," Kaidan contemplated as he worked on his next morsel, "Do you and her-"

"I didn't even know she _existed_ till a week back, that's how bad it was. And before I know it, she's gone again."

"I understand how you feel."

It was Oriana's turn. "You do?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. We've been left behind while they go on trooping through life. I wish to Heaven I could've joined her...but I can't just move on like she did. It's just not _me_."

Oriana nodded in agreement as she slowly drained her glass. Kaidan realised then that what he'd been saying had less to do with Shepard and was more about the fact that it was the trust he'd managed to forge with the girl sitting opposite him that had freed him to speak as such. It had just been two weeks, and she'd be leaving next Thursday, shortly after the course ended.

As dinner continued, with talk drifting into smaller matters, he learned that she'd taken up a job in colony development, and she'd be shipping off to Feros and Zhu's Hope shortly after she returned home. That gave him an excuse to mention the Thorian and all the fun he'd had after the mission scraping what he called 'Thorian juice' off all over his armour.

She laughed again. The light illuminating her face seemed to make her so radiant. The two shared a smile as they finished the remainder of their meal.

* * *

Shepard awoke, Thane's arms around her wrapped around her in a loving cage. She gently loosened the bars and slid out, wandering her room in little save her bathing suit. She took a quick shower and dressed herself in the same steady routine that she always did, taking solace in the familiarity.

Finally, she activated the personal terminal, bringing up the CIC.

"Shepard to Joker. How long till we hit the relay?"

_"Ninety minutes, Commander. The Illusive Man's been trying to ping y__ou."_

"Tell him he can wait a little more."

_"You'd better hurry. Miranda-"_

An all-too-recognisable female voice interrupted Joker. _"Shepard! Where the hell have you been?"_

Shepard rolled her eyes, wishing just then that there was a video component to the intercom. "Reviewing upgrades, Miranda."

_"Is that what they're calling it these days? Kindly inform Mr. Krios that utilising his __other__ rifle would be much more helpful for our mission."_

Shepard briefly heard Joker trying to stifle a snigger before suddenly getting silenced, most probably from a biotically assisted death glare. She rubbed her temples, mentally taking a note that intimate relationships were best conducted away from the room with more bugs than nooks and crannies to tuck them away in.

"Kindly remember that the only time I take orders from you is when I'm rescuing little girls from their overbearing sisters - I mean fathers. Tell our chain-smoking friend that 'Mr. Krios' and I will be reporting for duty ASAP...or at least as soon as we can be bothered."

Before Miranda could make a suitably snarky response, Shepard shut the communications channel, shaking her head. Her gaze drifted to the electronic picture frame standing next to the private terminal, currently displaying Kaidan's smiling face.

Should she send one last message, telling him that she was finally heading into the undiscovered country, that no traveller had ever returned from? Shepard reopened the terminal, and brought up her extranet-mail. It'd been left open on Kaidan's message. It said he was sorry. It wanted to take back everything that he'd spouted on Horizon. It wanted her to return to him safely.

Shepard typed up the first words of her farewell, then erased them. Maybe it'd better for him to remember her as he'd last seen her - that way there'd be nothing for him to miss if she didn't make it back. She couldn't make any promises without them all sounding empty. For each thing she knew about the Collectors, there were a thousand more doubts. If she couldn't find answers for herself, she'd never be able to give Kaidan any.

No. She'd message him when it was over. Not a moment before. Not until she'd blown the Collector Base into atoms and could see the pockmark on the galaxy that was Omega, again. He'd seen her die once before. She couldn't bear to put him through the same ordeal again. It wasn't fair to him-

- Shepard felt two strong arms lock around her. Thane must've awoken. It still disturbed her just how quickly and silently he could move; she'd barely even felt anything in the air till just then.

Waiting for Shepard to recover from the initial jolt, the assassin spoke. "_Siha_. Is there something concerning you?"

Craning her neck to meet his eyes - his wine-dark eyes, which now were marked by concern - she replied, "No. But we need to make ready."

"Understood. I shall-"

"Wait."

She got up from her chair, bumping against the desk as she did so, drawing herself up to her full 5'10" to face Thane, before planting one last kiss on those supple lips which had made tender love to her flesh just minutes ago. She spoke before the inevitable question.

"In case we never get the chance again."

Stroking her cheek, Thane responded, "I am sure we will, _siha_, whether in this world or across the ocean."

And that was goodbye. When they next would be speaking, she would be barking orders, screaming to be heard over the sound of the Collectors and Harbinger. There was no room for tenderness there, only battle-fury. She turned back to the desk as her door slid shut. The frame had fallen over, covering Kaidan's face.

Shepard headed over to the armour locker, not bothering to right the portrait. Maybe it was for the best that he wouldn't see what was to come.

* * *

The bill paid, all that was left to do was to head back home - the community centre for Kaidan, and the Hotel Iris for Oriana. Finding that the interminable elevator was being held up, the two of them had elected to take the stairs down. At about the third storey, Oriana was already regretting that decision. A touch too much of wine, combined with a skinny stiletto, caused a slight stumble in the middle of the flight of stairs.

She fell forward momentarily. Kaidan caught her with an outstretched hand, and the stairwell briefly basked in a blue glow. Biotic energy tingled around Oriana as she hung in mid-air, only anchored to the ground by Kaidan's hand. The few others opting to use the stairs stopped mid-step.

Rather self-consciously, Kaidan gently let her down. "Steady there, Oriana. It's a long way down."

Oriana turned to him, cheeks flushed too. "Sorry. It's just that..." She bent down to remove her shoes, exposing her bare feet to the cold steps. "...there's an awful lot of stairs down, and my feet are killing me."

The crowd moved on with their lives. Oriana stumbled again as she tried to continue, but caught the bannister this time, managing to reach the landing. As Kaidan leaned in concernedly, she pulled him in until she could feel his breath on her face.

"You know...it's not fair. I'm stumbling left and right and you're still able to lift people off the ground," she said, barely speaking above a whisper.

Kaidan leaned in. "Hey, one drink and I'm flying..."

Oriana tilted her head, lips an inch from Kaidan's ear. _"So why are you afraid of flying?"_

He turned back to Oriana. _"I'm not. Not with you. Hold on to me."_

Slightly puzzled but too absorbed to argue, she complied, gripping him around his back and his waist. Her shoes fell to the floor, forsaken for the meantime. Then, the world around her sparkled blue, and she found the ground below float away. Their last contact with it was Kaidan's hand, firmly gripping the bannister. Adding her own little amount of biotic energy, she moved her hand to Kaidan's.

A little coercing loosened it, and the two of them levitated a full foot above the landing. Her palm found his, their fingers interlocked, then his lips met hers. The few strangers who passed them gawked for briefly, then left the lovers alone. For that one moment, the rest of the galaxy didn't exist...just the two of them, joined in their mutual passion.


	6. Chapter 6

It was over.

Finally, after every single mission and favor and upgrade and this and that and everything else, it was over. The Collector Base was now nothing but smithereens drifting towards the black hole that the whole galaxy spun around, and Shepard had ended her unsigned contract with Cerberus by basically telling Mr. Illusive to perform an anatomically impossible sexual act.

Her reward to herself was spending eternity in her nice soft queen-sized bed with genuine artificial down pillows and triple-layered quilt lazing about and doing exactly zilch. Unfortunately for her, eternity ended at about the fifth alarm that her past self had set purely to torture her current self, telling future-her to get her ass to Illium and stop being an ass to Liara and save her drell boyfriend or something.

The most that she would've managed had anyone dared to talk to her in the middle of her voyage from the tangled bedsheets to the shower would be a combination of cro-magnon grunts and a shove upside the face. Thankfully for her and for them, nobody was stupid enough to try this. Maybe they were all just as awake and alert as she was.

One good, long, cold shower was what it took to drain half of that crankiness away. The rest would just have to be worked out on the way there. Shepard considered heading down the main battery just to take Garrus's challenge up. Throwing that adorable smartass down on the _dojo_ mat a few times would go a long way to cheering her up. Or better yet, speaking of drell boyfriends...

It was when she moved her hand to her PA console, all ready to call Thane up for some _private_ celebration, when she noticed that there was something missing from the table. Where was that frame...? As she bent down to look for it, her foot knocked into it, sending it skittering to the deepest corner of the realm under her desk.

After some tribulation, she finally managed to retrieve it and dust it off. A sick crack had marred Kaidan's smile, breaking it in two. It must've fallen off the desk when the Collectors were knocking the ship around. Then the reminder struck her like a bolt of lightning, and she remembered the promise she'd made to herself; to tell him she'd stared Death in the face and spat in its eye, the instant she returned.

She quickly sat herself down and powered up the private terminal. But before she could even open her extranet-mail, the door chimed and opened.

That same door to her room that she explicitly told EDI to lock from the inside until she could be arsed to drag herself to the CIC. And had pasted a cartoon version of herself kicking out a bunch of intruders on, under a scrawled "NO ENTRY. GET OUT!" That exact door she didn't want _anyone_ to pass through and disturb her rest.

Springing up from her chair, Shepard yelled, "EDI, I thought I told you to lock the door!"

A familiar modulated voice from outside the room said, "Funny. Miranda said the same thing about hers."

Seething, Shepard asked, "Tali?"

Now another voice joined Tali's - a warm, flanged, one. "Now there, Shepard, she's just a willing accomplice. When all this is over and you start stringing mutineers up from the prow, just take that into consideration."

"Garrus?!"

The conspirators marched through the now-open door, the blue-marked turian at their fore. The lot of them were all dressed casually. Behind Garrus and Tali were a bunch of other crewmembers, including Kasumi and Jack. All of them were also wearing expressions of pure mischief.

Garrus spoke again, crossing his arms. "That's right." Affecting a mock formal voice, he continued, "In the absence of the commanding officer and the XO, the gunnery chief'll have to take command. And the new captain's first order? Party like there's no tomorrow."

"_Garrus..._" Shepard hissed.

A new voice entered the fray. "Sorry, Commander. I'm afraid I have to defer to his authority this one time."

Seeing the figure that had said that squeezing past the rest of the crowd, she muttered, "_Et tu_, Jacob?"

"I think we all deserve a little reward for kicking the Collector's asses six ways to Sunday, and this sounds like the perfect way to relax."

Shepard rubbed her temples, finally saying, "Oh, all right-"

As though that was their cue, the lot of them rushed forward at her, Garrus and Tali sweeping her up and seating her on their shoulders as the humans broke into an off-tune, off-beat rendition of "We Are the Champions", all the way into the elevator and down to the airlock to Omega.

* * *

Kaidan was fixing a snack up in the break room between lessons when his colleague burst into the room excitedly.

Jurou Hotaru exclaimed, "Hey, Kaidan! Have you heard?"

Diverting his attention from his egg mayonnaise sandwich, Kaidan asked, "Heard about what?"

His colleague's eyes widened. "_You don't know_?!"

Letting the slightest tinge of annoyance seep into his voice, he responded, "No, JH, I haven't. What's all this about? Did a mass relay blow up or the Reapers invade or did someone cure the geno-"

"Nah, but close. Someone made it out of the Omega 4 relay! And they say it was _Shepard_!"

The butter knife landed on the table with a dull thud. Kaidan only managed a "What."

Jurou pressed on, undeterred. "Totally! My friend on Omega-"

Somehow able to return to his senses, Kaidan interjected. "Wait, hold on a moment. You have a friend on Omega?"

"...that's not the point here, Kaidan. Point is, guy saw the goddamn _Normandy_ get spat out of the Omega 4 relay and docks there, and the day after, a whole buncha guys from the _Normandy_ empty out from it and start partying in Lower Afterlife!"

"What? Did anyone see Shepard?"

Jurou pondered the question. "Well, maybe. They were all talking about how they kicked Collector ass or something."

Kaidan stared at his hand, having somehow regained possession of the butter knife. "That so?"

"Yeah, in fact-"

It was at that precise moment that Iris entered the room, asking, "What's going on? You guys seem pretty excited about something."

This prompted Jurou to relate most of the entire story to Iris, having to start over at the beginning when Francis Wieland inevtiably came into the breakroom in search of his midday coffee, letting Kaidan focus on the half-constructed sandwich. As he worked on it, thoughts about Shepard started to crowd his mind again. So she'd finally done it; finished that mission that both of them had been working on at Horizon three weeks ago and sent the Collectors into whatever dark corner of the universe they'd crawled out from.

And she hadn't even bothered to tell him that she was going to take a nose-dive into the relay that nobody had ever come out from or for that matter that she'd made it out alive. And if she hadn't...it'd be the second time he could've, should've done something, _anything_...and she'd still be dead. If she'd just said it, he'd have dropped everything and made sure that no matter what mad idea she went through with, he'd be here this time for her. But she hadn't. And he wasn't. Again.

Kaidan realised that he had a death hold on the butter knife, and released it, thinking more and reacting less. How would've he justified it to his colleagues and to his students? Or to Oriana, for that matter? Tell her that he was dashing off to rescue the woman he'd once loved, and that she was nothing compared to her? Fine. So that explained why Shepard hadn't said anything before taking the plunge. But she'd stared Death in the face and proceeded to spit in it. She should have said something.

She should have said something.

She hadn't said anything.

Was it too selfish to demand _something_? Just "Oh hi Kaidan, I went through the Omega 4 relay, kicked the Collector's collective butts, and got out"? Did he mean so little to her that-

"Hey bro, you okay there?"

It was Jurou's voice. The rest were gone. He continued, "You...kinda spaced out there for a while."

Kaidan shook his head. "No. It's nothing."

"You sure, dude?"

He jerked his head in Jurou's direction, giving him a glare that could convey only one meaning. "I said _I'm fine_. Let's go for the next class, okay?"

"Sure."

Kaidan got up. Jurou gave his half-eaten sandwich a lingering glance.

"Uh, dude..."

Realising his omission, Kaidan grabbed the food and headed to the door, chomping on it. Flecks and globs of egg mayo fell to the tiled floor, forsaken and uncared for.

* * *

Shepard dragged herself down to the mess half-dressed in her armour, blearily trying to maintain a heading as she wandered her way to the table where Mess Sergeant Gardner was preparing a hearty breakfast for morning shift. After a journey of many leagues, she eventually reached the kitchen counter where he worked.

"Morning, Commander..." he greeted, voice trailing off as he saw the deep shadows under Shepard's eyes, "...uh, permission to speak freely, ma'am?"

Shepard mumbled a grunt of assent.

"Uh, Commander, you kinda look..."

She glanced up at him. "...like crap?"

"Wasn't going to say that, ma'am."

"Suuure. 'f there's one thing I've learned, it's _never_ up a dare to finish a shot of dextro liquor. Or two. Or eight. No matter what those two mutineers say or offer."

Gardner looked around uneasily. "Uh...noted, Commander. Need some coffee?"

"Keep it coming, Rupert. Black. Extra sugar. Gimme toast and bacon or whatever substitute you've got."

"Yes, Ma'am."

As Shepard tucked into her food, she tried to recall just what had gone down last night. Displaying a remarkable amount foresight, Garrus had booked two rooms in Lower Afterlife, apparently namedropping Shepard in the process...naturally meaning that _she_ had to go pick up the bill...although he promised to recompensate her when they next touched down on the Citadel. Honest. Serious. And then some.

Right from the start the crew had been raising hell in there, and the continual flow of drinks hadn't helped things any. After the first twenty minutes, Kasumi was nowhere to be seen...which was completely normal, but she seemed to have gallivanted off at the same time as Jacob. That would explain why _he_ was so damn happy this morning...

Anyway. After the first hour, people were singing utterly drunken karaoke and dancing on tables, and somehow Miranda had ingested enough alcohol to end up doing both, to everybody's delight. Garrus, who was either able to hold his liquor way better that everyone else or had managed to avoid it altogether, then brought up that damn challenge.

And like an idiot, she'd accepted it. At that point, she was way too blitzed to remember most of what had happened after the fourth or fifth shot, Thane had been quick to remind her as the two of them tangled with each other on her lush bed, which while a welcome sight, was difficult to figure out in terms of just how'd she got there.

It really didn't matter, as she and Thane had made love to each other. The first time they'd come together in her room, it was two frightened people giving each other comfort before they made the final plunge through the Omega 4 relay. Now, unfettered, unrestrained, they had been free to express their passions.

An announcement interrupted her reverie. _"Illium in 20, Commander."_

Swallowing a glob of coffee down, she responded, "Gotcha, Joker. Get Thane and Zaeed to meet me at the airlock, willya?"

_"Aye, aye, ma'am."_

Tidying up the remainder of her food, she trudged her way to the elevator, trying to recall the salient points of what she was going to do when she got there, which basically amounted to "give stuff to Liara". Hopefully she wouldn't get dragged into anything crazy unlike the first time the two had met. There was something else she had to do, but her brain wasn't letting her recall it properly at the moment...


	7. Chapter 7

It was Wednesday night. The course was over, with about ten or so of the trainees actually thinking about joining the Alliance. They had until the week after to submit their completed registration forms through the extranet. Out of 22 students, that was about about a 45% success rate. Could've been worse.

Out of the gang of four he'd been teaching with, Iris was shipping back to her old outpost on Friday and Hotaru would be bouncing around Alliance Command until they figured out what to do with him. Francis was meeting up with a bunch of old friends somewhere else in the colony. That left Kaidan alone, standing at the foot of the Hotel Iris, on Oriana's invitation to see her off before she took the first shuttle out the next morning.

What was he doing here? Even now, some part of him was berating himself for having gone this far. It was already bad enough that he'd agreed to that dinner last week. What _was_ he doing here? He should have said 'no', and followed Francis around. Or chat with Hotaru or Iris. Or gone for a night on the town solo. Or gone cable-skiing in the local lake. Basically, anything besides this.

He pushed aside that part of his mind. She wasn't his student any more, and he wasn't her teacher. That much had been made clear the moment she and the rest of them had walked out of that auditorium that last time. So what was holding him back? Shepard? She was having enough fun herself. There was nothing more to it. They had shared _something_ last week, and he wasn't going to let it go.

Taking a deep breath, he tapped open the door to the club attached to the hotel. The lighting in it was dimmed, except for the strobe light right in the middle, slowly revolving and projecting multicolored lights to every corner of the club. Kaidan recognised the song as being a mix of a fairly popular one back in the day.

_I_

Have wondered about you

Where will you be

When this is through?

He scanned around the club, looking for his date. After a few seconds, he found her, wearing a long-sleeved purple dress with a skirt so short it'd be considered lewd, except for the pair of shiny black leggings she was wearing under it, which ended in a pair of fierce violet boots.

"Hey, Mr. Alenko."

Kaidan approached her. "Call me Kaidan, Oriana. We're not in class any more."

Leaning forward, she replied, "Then call me Ori, Kaidan."

"Okay, Ori."

He came to sit beside her, calling up a drink; two parts gin to one of cointreau and lime juice each. She matched his with gin and grenadine, skipping the egg white.

_If all_

If all goes as planned

Will you redeem

My life again?

My life again

He'd barely finished his second sip when she turned to him again. "Wanna dance?"

Kaidan took the third sip to think his answer through. "Lead on, milady."

Laughing, she grabbed his hand and moved to the platform in front of the stage, where the song practically blared at those assembled from all four sides. As they started to move to the music, he instantly noticed one key difference between Shepard and her; while Shepard's attempts at dancing had one day led the entire squad to mock her by shuffling their shoulders in unison in the briefing room, Oriana was a natural. She flowed from move to move so smoothly, and even managed to do a pirouette despite wearing those thick boots. Kaidan tried his best to follow her, although his own moves had been rendered rusty due to no particular need to maintain them.

_Fight your foes, you're not alone_

Holy war is on the phone

Asking to please stay on hold

The bleeding loss of blood runs cold

She ended her little routine by sliding into a perfect front split, although her achievement was rather undermined by the fact that she then needed a helping hand from Kaidan in getting back two of them were wiping perspiration off their brows, laughing as they came to the bar to return to their drinks. Her round cheeks were blushing. He kissed them, then moved to her lips. Her hand moved down the side of his chest, past his obliques down to his waist. He gently placed her hand on the table, shaking his head to indicate this wasn't the place.

_And I need you to recover_

Because I can't make it on my own

And I need you to recover

Because I can't make it on my own

A few more sips, and both glasses were drained. In less time than that, they were gone from the club, heading up the elevator to her floor.

* * *

Their clothes lay in messy piles by the foot of the bed, their bodies twisting and turning in it. It was, of course, just about too small for both of them, having been booked for just one. But they were trying their best.

Kaidan started with his lips on her neck, working down her throat, which tingled as he licked it, then right over her sternum. All she got after that was a tantalizing brush on each nipple. She shuffled down the sheet to get closer to him, and he obliged.

Her hand went straight for it, and a few gentle rubs later, it stood proud and erect. Kaidan groaned with pleasure as she wrapped her lips around it, her tongue flicking his head. As she let go, he moved to return the favor, parting her legs with his strong arms and the small tuft of hair over hers with his tongue.

Fucking Shepard had never been like this. It was always sex with her, not quite love. She'd had to learn to be tender, to be gentle. With Oriana, he could afford to go slow, moving his lips across her exposed skin, taking in every little moan and twitch she made as he did so.

Finally, he smoothly guided it into her. The look on her face made it perfectly clear that this was she hadn't someone else enter her before, not like this, anyway. He took it slowly, edging in until he was buried to the hilt in her, her legs tightening and loosening around his waist with every inch he moved in. He whispered to her ear.

_"Follow me. Do as I do."_

Before she could find a pause between her gasps to ask what it was, Kaidan lit up with a brilliant blue biotic sparkle. Oriana's eyes widened, and she complied. The room lit up with their energy, which only amplified every little touch, every brush of skin.

The two of them joined voices in their release. Again and again he moved, ridding himself of every last trace of Shepard with each thrust.

* * *

The Shadow Broker was dead, and Liara had found another hole to crawl into - one even more obscure than the one Shepard had first met her in. The whole thing had been crazy, and Shepard was really glad to put it all behind her. That, and the sheer horrendous _odor_ of a dead yahg. Ejecting that damn brute into his own ship's solar sail had been a huge relief.

Liara would be busy setting up shop, asking Shepard to call on her later. Yeah, maybe she'd do that when she felt like talking about old days. Shepard briefly remembered Hackett's message about rescuing some old friend of his from the deepest armpit of batarian space. She'd get to it in a while. What she really needed now was -

"Miranda would like to speak to you, Commander."

Shepard looked up as she passed the little platform she usually stood on when giving Joker his latest coordinates. Kelly was tapping away at her station's keyboard.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the wonderful prospect of running more errands for her crew, Shepard asked, "Did she say what it was about?"

"No, Commander. She did seem rather perturbed, and was muttering about Alliance people being unable to keep it in their-"

"I get the picture." Shepard took a few steps to the elevator. "Uh, thanks for letting me know, Kelly."

"It's always a pleasure talking to-"

The elevator door shut closed.

She really didn't have time for this. Well, Miranda _had_ recently earned a whole bunch of brownie points by telling the Illusive Man in so many words to screw off. Still didn't stop her from being a nag though, especially now the entire purpose she'd singlehandedly (as she related it) brought her back to life had ended with that trip through Omega 4 and back.

Let her rant for a while. All this probably meant that she'd have to drag her ass halfway across the galaxy. Maybe this time she'd have to rescue a teenager or even a little kid version of Miranda. She smirked to herself, imagining her nominal XO in the form of a bratty toddler.

* * *

Kaidan had followed Oriana to the spaceport to see her off, helping her with her ponderous mass of luggage. He no longer had to wonder where she'd managed to dig up yesterday's ensemble - one could probably fit half a cabinet in the portmanteau he was lugging around.

As for today, she was in a considerably more conservative dress, with something that barely qualified as a jacket around it. She was carrying two more bags, one on each arm. One could only wonder what more was in their depths.

The side of the shuttle slid open with a hiss and a click, and the three bags were deposited into the hold, much to Kaidan's relief. The two proceeded to the front of the vehicle, where the door too opened, and a series of steps slid out from the bottom of the hull.

Oriana moved towards the staircase, before turning around to face him again, with a slight tinge of sadness.

"I guess this is goodbye, Kaidan."

Kaidan stepped closer to her, returning her pout with a smile. "We'll meet again."

With that, and a swift hand to her waist, he pulled her in for a quick kiss. To his surprise he felt her tongue trying to force its way past his lips. He indulged her for a moment before glancing to the side to remind her they weren't quite alone in the dock.

They parted, and she paused again at the entrance to wave goodbye. Kaidan returned it, and she disappeared into the shuttle. Kaidan walked past the barricades, waiting for the shuttle to take to the skies, away from here forever.

* * *

The door slid open, revealing Miranda sitting cross-legged at her usual desk, supreme irritation seemingly about to burst from her seams. She stood up the instant Shepard had taken one step into her office.

"We need to talk, Shepard."

Crossing her arms nonchalantly, she replied, "Yes, Miranda. That _would_ be the chief reason why I've decided to come down here, against my allegedly better judgment. Get to it."

"You know my sister, Oriana?"

"How could I forget?"

Miranda went to her computer, and with a few keystrokes had loaded something or other. "Using the Shadow Broker's resources, I was able to get a few feeds of the hotel where she's staying as part of some Alliance outreach programme for biotics. A foolish idea, getting on some Alliance shortlist, free for every tom-dick-and-harry to check up on, but that was her decision, and I respected that..."

"...Not like spying on your sister's hotel room is excessively creepy or in any way a symptom of general issues with needing to keep tabs on everyone one knows, not at all..."

She glared at Shepard. "Look here, commander, you yourself said to 'get to it'. Do you want to hear what I have to say or continue to needle me with unneccessary snipes?"

With a sigh, Shepard said, "All right, Miranda. What's the problem?"

"She appears to be fraternising with one of her instructors."

Shepard's right eyebrow jacked up a little. "Concerning, I guess, but what's it got to do with-"

"It might interest you to know just _who_ said instructor is, Shepard."

With that, she had turned the screen a hundred and eighty degrees to face Shepard. The image on screen was a blurred one, showing patrons of some nightclub somewhere. At its center were two figures. One of them, she guessed, was Oriana, based on her hairdo and the dress she had on. The other was...no, it couldn't be. No. Not _him_. Not with _her_. Not-

_"Kaidan Alenko, Terra Nova."_

The figures came to life. They stumbled to the chairs by the bar. They drank their cocktails. They kissed. Passionately. Her hand travelled to his side, and the other hungrily went further south. He gently but firmly placed them somewhere more appropriate, then led her by hand out of the camera's range, both of them clearly filled with alcohol and lust alike.

Any other time, the sheer range of Shepard's Liara-esque eye twitches and contortions would've been positively hilarious. But Miranda took them all in very, very sombrely.

Finally, allowing the dust to settle in Shepard's mind, she simply spoke. "You understand now, don't you?"

Blinking to return to reality, Shepard replied, "Yes."

"I hope-"

"No need to. I'll go and talk to him. _Immediately_."

"Thank you, Shepard," Miranda said, nodding.

The door clicked shut, and Shepard was gone. She ignored Thane heading to Gardner to get lunch, and Garrus heading to the little turian's room. She needed to get to her cabin, and she needed to get there now.

-

The engines of the shuttle roared to life, and in a matter of seconds, it had shot through the heavens, taking Oriana away with it. Kaidan smiled and turned away to exit the spaceport. It was after he'd gotten a small snack at the stand when his omnitool rang to life. He gazed down at the message it had to say.

_[Shepard:] Need to talk. NOW._

His heart fell, and the color drained from his cheeks. It could only be about one thing. He strode out swiftly and called for a cab to take him to the community centre, imagining all the way there a thousand variations of what was to come...

* * *

**Later.**

The screen came to life. Shepard stared from it. It was the same indignant expression she'd worn when they'd last met. Kaidan wished that it didn't belong on a face as fair as hers - but she was a soldier first and foremost. Seeing it again shot a pang of guilt and hurt straight to his heart. Nothing had changed since Horizon. Nothing at all.

She spoke first. _"Kaidan."_

His mouth felt so dry. He managed a, "Yes."

_"Am I right to say you're currently an instructor on Terra Nova?"_

"Not any more."

_"Did you come in contact with a certain Oriana?"_

It came out mechanically. "Yes."

_"Did you-_

It was just then that Kaidan couldn't bear it any longer. Deep inside him, a floodgate wrenched itself free, unable to restrain the flow of emotions pounding against the walls of his heart.

"I'm so sorry, Shepard. I reacted. I was angry after Horizon. Then when I heard went through the Omega 4 relay and back and you didn't bother to say anything, I-"

And now, to the greatest of his surprise, she snapped, _"Dammit, Kaidan! I don't care about that!"_

-

Judging by the mollified look on the shimmering image of Kaidan's face, she instantly regretted blurting that out. Waving her hand in front of her face, she quickly added on, "Sorry - I didn't mean it that way - Sorry."

She could hardly bear to look his image in the eyes. It was as if something had broken deep inside him. Trying her best to ignore it, she continued, focusing on righteous anger instead.

"What I mean is, you were her teacher, Kaidan! She trusted you to teach her and take care of her, and you took advantage of it! What if one of your instructors at BAaT-"

The hurt was gone from his face. The bad thing about that was that it had been replaced by indignation.

-

Within seconds, the ball of angst had roared into fury. Kaidan yelled, "It wasn't anything like that! We didn't even do anything until the course finished. Don't claim to understand everything, Shepard. What's it to you anyway?! _You don't even care!"_

Now it was his turn to realise that words had slipped out, words that could never be taken back. Shepard glanced away for a second - just a second, to cast aside what Kaidan had just said in anger - then turned back to him, with as closest to a neutral expression as she could now manage.

_"What last name did she give when she registered?"_, she asked.

The question was so sudden it jolted Kaidan out of his temper. "Uh, Davis. You mean-"

_"Her real name is 'Lawson'."_

Lawson. _Lawson_. A name in a file, during a briefing. Something to do with...something about..."Wait, Lawson as in-" he spluttered again.

_"As in Miranda Lawson, the Cerberus operative. The one that was with me and Garrus on Horizon."_

"You mean...She's her..."

Shepared nodded her head silently.

"...sister...oh god..."

Kaidan slumped back into his chair, surely as if a blow had landed on his chest. He brought a hand to the side of his face.

_"Are you still in contact with her?"_

He shook his head. "She's shipped off to Feros. Only extranet-mail."

_"Can I take it you won't..."_

He nodded his head.

Shepard cast her eyes to the ground. _"Thank you, Kaidan. As for...other matters...we'll talk about them another time...when everything isn't crashing and tumbling around my ears all at once...when we..."_ Words were failing her.

He nodded his head again. Words had failed him too.

The image of Shepard flickered and died. Kaidan sat dumbstruck in his chair, staring into empty space, those five words echoing again and again in his head.

_...I don't care about that..._

_...I don't care about that..._

_...I don't care about that..._


	8. Epilogue 1: Kaidan

**One month later**

It was during his attachment to a special unit when he heard the news. An mass relay gone, and a whole system with it. 300,000 batarians. And the Normandy had been in the middle of it when it'd happened. She'd turned herself in. Of course she had. She'd always done the right thing. And this time, she'd told him about it. It was only one message, but it spoke volumes.

_[Shepard:] By the time this reaches you, you probably already know. I did what I had to do. It was them or the Reapers. I won't be able to talk to you again after this. I'm sorry._

It was only one message, but it was enough. The next time he found himself on Earth, he'd go to her. It was the right thing to do.


	9. Epilogue 2: Shepard

**One year later**

She sat in her cell, memorising the exact number of tiles from her bed to the opposite wall and from the left to the right one, and how many made up the distance from the floor to the ceiling. There was nothing else to do. At least the cell had a decent view. A family of four lived on the top storey of the opposite building. They had a nice garden. One of their kids liked to play with toy ships.

Sometimes, her dreams won't let her go, and she sees Kaidan at the door. He sits by the little slot, and listens to what she has to say. He forigves her, and she forgives him.

But it's just a dream. She's going to hang in order to save the Alliance, and fate won't even let her wrap up her loose ends before she reaches the gallows. For such a needlessly cruel universe, it has a somewhat wicked sense of humour.


	10. Epilogue 3: Oriana

**Eventually**

She could feel her own breath waft back at her. That was how small the confined space was. She glanced again and again at the hallway it overlooked. Lights flickered on and off all around her. Just moments earlier, monsters had been prowling the halls, slashing and shooting and devouring everything they could get their misshapen hands on.

Despite everything, despite her sister's best efforts, _he'd_ still caught up with her, accompanied by men with guns, and dragged her to the mockery called Sanctuary. He ranted about how her sister had poisoned her against him, and having to accept Cerberus with open arms just to find her again. Then he'd thrown her into a cell, and left to do...things.

They were horrible things. Her cell wasn't far enough from the laboratories to stop her from piecing together what was going on. They kidnapped innocent people and twisted their flesh and cut through their bone to make them things they weren't. They hooked the monsters up to machines and tortured them into submission.

Once, she heard a new voice. It was full of malice and arrogance. Her father promised his child to him as "payment" to keep them safe here. The other man laughed a cruel laugh and gleefully accepted the offer.

But after that, it all fell apart.

The monsters came. They didn't care about the innocent or the guilty. In a matter of hours, they had torn up and bloodied the entire place. It was quiet now, but there was still one monster out there. It paced down the hallway, just passing her as it went.

It called out for her. "Oriana? _Oriana?_" There was a gun in his hand. "_Oriana?_ You can come out now. Daddy's here. Daddy'll keep you safe. They're gone now. But we need to leave. Oriana?"

He turned around, heading towards the door. Something in her awoke and she slipped out of her hidey-hole, standing with her feet spaced apart, defiantly staring at the back of his head.

"I'm right here, Henry."

Her alleged father wheeled around, nearly raising the gun. With open arms and a false smile, he slowly approached her. "There you are, child! Come on, let's get out of-"

"I'm not following you anywhere."

The smile vanished. "I'm not going to ask you again. Come with me where it's safe."

Her hands curled into fists. "_Safe?_ You're telling me it's going to be 'safe' with you? And I suppose it'll be really _'safe'_ when you hand me over to that assassin? Wasn't that the deal, Henry? How _stupid_ do you think I am?"

Before she could do anything, she found the gun levelled at her, the barrel staring down from ten feet away.

"I'm your _father_, Oriana. Do what Daddy says."

"No, I won't. Also, you barely qualify as my 'Daddy'."

Whatever it was that convinced her to make a stand finally comes to life, and blue sparks illuminated the dim hallway.

"What the- how-"

She spat, "Go to Hell, Henry."

She brought her hands up in front of her face, and a massive biotic pulse knocked him off his feet, sending him careening through the doorway. Exhausted from the effort, she collapsed to her knees, utterly drained. It was over. Years and years of hiding, and false names, and everything...it was finally over. Forcing herself up, she slowly headed into the next room, bending over gingerly to check that he's out cold.

Then, with an awful snarl, he comes back to life, sweeping her off her feet. He drags her back up just as the other door opens, revealing three armed men. Two armed men and a turian. She feels the barrel of the gun next to her head.

Sneering, he greets the new arrivals. "_Commander Shepard_. Excellent timing."

The leader of the new group speaks. "Put the gun down. _Now_."

Oriana stares wildly at them. Shepard must be the woman in the middle. On her right's a turian. And on her left is..._Kaidan_. If he recognises her, he doesn't show it. His aim's directly at Henry.

"No. Oriana just tried to kill me. Miranda's _poisonous_ influence, no doubt."

"I'm sorry she failed," Shepard says, not sounding sorry in the least. "Where's Kai Leng?"

"I don't know," Henry replies, "He took my research and left us here to die."

Someone flinches. The gun whips around to point at Shepard now.

"That's close enough."

Cool as steel, Shepard responds, "This ends here."

"On the contrary. Now that the Reapers are taken care of, I - _we_ - have a way out."

"Let her go."

Henry says, "And lose my only bargaining chip? I think not."

Shepard stands still, thinking of what to say. Kaidan finally looks Oriana in the eye, and gives her a subtle wink. She doesn't react, but still acknowledges it. Shepard makes a subtle motion towards Kaidan, just before she speaks.

"I've got no problem with you. Personally. I just want Oriana and the research data."

His eyes narrow. "You want a lot."

"You'll get your life in return. How about that? I promise I won't do anything to you."

Henry glances at her, then at Shepard. "All right, take her," he says, shoving her to the floor. "But you'd better make good on your promise."

Then, Kaidan lights up, and biotically hurls him through the glass window. He screams as he falls. His body strikes the ground below with a sick _crack_.

"Commander never said anything about _me_."

Silence reigns for a few brief moments. Then Shepard's team dashes over. Oriana manages to get up before they reach her, and she leaps at Kaidan, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, and she plants a singularly grateful kiss on his lips.

Garrus stares at the scene dumbfounded, then turns to look at Shepard, pointing at Kaidan, and then at Oriana, then entwining his two fingers as a kind of signal in question. Shepard throws her arms up in consternation, obviously not wanting to elaborate right and here and now. In the meantime, Kaidan has managed to break free, and tries to stammer out an explanation.

Thankfully for everyone involved, it's just then that her sister decides to stagger into the room, slightly injured.

Shepard cries, "Miranda!" and dashes over to her.

Her sister slumps over to a table. She manages, "I'm fine. Where's Henry?"

Kaidan answers for them. "He had a bad fall."

Miranda's eyes narrow as she turns to look at him. "You must be Major Alenko."

"Um, Miranda Lawson, I presume?"

"You're presuming right." Kaidan notices she's no longer looking at him - but rather just to his side, where Oriana's hanging off his arm.

He quickly blurts, "Uh, I can explain."

Folding her arms over her chest, Miranda retorts, "I'm sure you can, Major."

Oriana lets go of Kaidan as she goes for Miranda now. The rest of the room descends into silence as the two sisters reunite, and they comfort each other with the knowledge that it's finally over for real. They don't need to worry about running away from the monster who lies dead, neck broken at a sick angle at the foot of the window behind them, all for some misguided "legacy".

Eventually, it's Garrus that speaks up, and as usual, it's never the right thing.

"_Right._ As much as I hate breaking up reunions between lovers and sisters, we kind of need to figure out where the main Cerberus base and everything is..."

Shepard snaps, "_You_ can get to that, Garrus. Go scan those computers and see what turns up. Shuttle records, schedules, anything."

Miranda breaks contact with Oriana to say, "Actually, before Kai Leng took off, I planted a tracer on him. It'll lead you right to the Illusive Man."

The first smile of relief in a long time forms on Shepard's lips. "Sounds like you thought of everything."

"Not everything. It's-"

"It's exactly what we need. Let's get out of here. We can review this on the Normandy." Shooting Kaidan a sidelong glance, she adds, "_All_ of...this."

Garrus gives Kaidan a knowing smirk, and gets a not particularly gentle punch on the shoulder for it. All around them, the audio system sparks to life, and Miranda's voice echoes again and again through the corridors, warning people about this place and what its true nature is.

As they all head out of the door, ready to leave Horizon forever, Shepard shakes her head and mutters to herself, almost inaudibly, "Fuck. I almost forgot just _how much_ I hate this planet."


End file.
